The Ipswich Witches travel to local rivals Peterborough on Sunday for a Championship Shield fixture, writes Henry Chard.

The original fixture was one of many all over the country that was postponed over Easter due to the awful weather and the second attempt to stage the meeting was also a wash out.

The Witches’ hopes of qualification from the group were shattered at Foxhall after they were defeated 44-45 by Lakeside back in April.

The Witches are fully focused on their Championship league campaign now and will use this weekend’s fixture as good practice for the league meeting later this season.

Despite the meeting not meaning anything, the team will be keen to build up momentum after a good win last time out against champions Sheffield.

Michael Härtel is missing again as he already had prior commitments ahead of the fixture being re-arranged and Georgie Wood comes in as a National League guest.

When and where

East of England Arena & Events Centre on Sunday June 17 at 5pm.

Teams

Peterborough: 1. Scott Nicholls 7.74 2. Ellis Perks 4.95 3. Bradley Wilson Dean 5.90 4. Michael Palm Toft 6.68 5. Ulrich Ostergaard 7.41 6. Simon Lambert 4.80 © 7. Tom Bacon 3.03. Team Manager: Carl Johnson

Ipswich: 1. Rory Schlein 9.08 2. Cameron Heeps 6.57 3. Nico Covatti 6.30 4. Georgie Wood (g) 5.20 5. Danny King 9.05 © 6. Connor Mountain 3.58 7. Danyon Hume 3.74. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins

Hawkins says

Ipswich Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “We are out of the competition but it is a chance for the boys to put on a good performance.

“We need it as you don’t want to finish the group with no points. We had a good performance last Thursday and we need to carry on from that and put on a good show.

“It is not about anything else for us other than winning. The boys need to earn some money and put on a good show because we don’t want to finish with zero points, that’s embarrassing.”